National Government (1935–1937)

National Government
National Government
3rd National Government of the United Kingdom
1935–1937
Date formed	7 June 1935
Date dissolved	28 May 1937
People and organisations
Monarch	George V (1935–1936); Edward VIII (1936); George VI (1936–1937);
Prime Minister	Stanley Baldwin
Total no. of members	109 appointments
Member parties	Conservative Party; National Labour; National Liberal Party;
Status in legislature	Majority (coalition)
Opposition party	Labour Party
Opposition leaders	George Lansbury (1935); Clement Attlee (1935–1937); in the House of Commons; Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede; (1935); Lord Snell (1935–1937); in the House of Lords;
History
Election(s)	1935 general election
Legislature term(s)	36th UK Parliament; 37th UK Parliament;
Predecessor	Second National Government
Successor	Fourth National Government

The National Government of 1935–1937 was formed by Stanley Baldwin on his reappointment as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom by King George V, following the resignation of Ramsay MacDonald in June 1935.

As a National Government it contained members of the Conservative Party, Liberal Nationals and National Labour, as well as a number of individuals who belonged to no political party. The Government oversaw the Edward VIII abdication crisis and three monarchs in 1936. In May 1937, Baldwin resigned and was replaced as Prime Minister by Neville Chamberlain.

Cabinet

1935–1937

Office	Name	Term
Prime Minister	Stanley Baldwin	1935–1937
Lord President of the Council	Ramsay MacDonald	1935–1937
Lord Chancellor	The Viscount Hailsham	1935–1937
Lord Privy Seal	The Marquess of Londonderry	1935
Lord Privy Seal	The Viscount Halifax	1935–1937
Foreign Secretary	Sir Samuel Hoare	1935
Foreign Secretary	Anthony Eden	1935–1937
Home Secretary	Sir John Simon	1935–1937
Colonial Secretary	Malcolm MacDonald	1935
	James Henry Thomas	1935–1936
	William Ormsby-Gore	1936–1937
War Secretary	The Viscount Halifax	1935
War Secretary	Duff Cooper	1935–1937
Secretary of State for India	The Marquess of Zetland	1935–1937
Secretary of State for Air	The Viscount Swinton	1935–1937
Dominion Secretary	James Henry Thomas	1935
Dominion Secretary	Malcolm MacDonald	1935–1937
Secretary of State for Scotland	Sir Godfrey Collins	1935–1936
Secretary of State for Scotland	Walter Elliot	1936–1937
Chancellor of the Exchequer	Neville Chamberlain	1935–1937
Minister without Portfolio	Anthony Eden	1935
Minister without Portfolio	Lord Eustace Percy	1935–1936
First Lord of the Admiralty	Bolton Eyres-Monsell (from November 1935 as The Viscount Monsell)	1935–1936
First Lord of the Admiralty	Sir Samuel Hoare	1936–1937
President of the Board of Trade	Walter Runciman	1935–1937
Minister of Health	Sir Kingsley Wood	1935–1937
President of the Board of Education	Oliver Stanley	1935–1937

Notes

Anthony Eden served as Minister without Portfolio, with specific responsibility for League of Nations Affairs (and was often referred to as "Minister for League of Nations Affairs) for approximately six months; during this time, he enjoyed equal status with the Foreign Secretary (Sir Samuel Hoare) and sat in the cabinet.

List of Ministers

Members of the Cabinet are in bold face.

Office	Name	Party		Dates	Notes
Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Leader of the House of Commons	Stanley Baldwin	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	7 June 1935
Lord Chancellor	The Viscount Hailsham	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	7 June 1935
Lord President of the Council	Ramsay MacDonald	style="background: Template:National Labour Organisation/meta/color" \|	National Labour	7 June 1935
Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Lords	The Marquess of Londonderry	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	7 June 1935
Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Lords	The Viscount Halifax	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	22 November 1935
Chancellor of the Exchequer	Neville Chamberlain	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	7 June 1935
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury	David Margesson	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	18 June 1935
Financial Secretary to the Treasury	Duff Cooper	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	18 June 1935
	William Morrison	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	22 November 1935
	John Colville	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	29 October 1936
Lords of the Treasury	James Stuart	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	18 June 1935 – May 1937
	Archibald Southby	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	18 June 1935 – 28 May 1937	Knighted
	Sir Walter Womersley	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	18 June 1935 – 6 December 1935
	George Frederick Davies	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	18 June 1935 – 6 December 1935
	James Blindell	style="background: Template:National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)/meta/color" \|	Liberal National	18 June 1935 – 28 May 1937	Knighted
	Arthur Hope	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	6 December 1935 – 28 May 1937
	Henry Morris-Jones	style="background: Template:National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)/meta/color" \|	Liberal National	6 December 1935 – 28 May 1937
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs	Sir Samuel Hoare, Bt	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	7 June 1935
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs	Anthony Eden	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	22 December 1935
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs	The Earl Stanhope	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	18 June 1935 – 16 June 1936
	Viscount Cranborne	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	6 August 1935 – May 1937
	The Earl of Plymouth	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	30 July 1936 – May 1937
Secretary of State for the Home Department and Deputy Leader of the House of Commons	Sir John Simon	style="background: Template:National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)/meta/color" \|	Liberal National	7 June 1935
Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department	Euan Wallace	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	18 June 1935
Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department	Geoffrey Lloyd	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	28 November 1935
First Lord of the Admiralty	Sir Bolton Eyres-Monsell	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	7 June 1935
First Lord of the Admiralty	Sir Samuel Hoare, Bt	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	5 June 1936
Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty	Sir Victor Warrender	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	18 June 1935
Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty	Lord Stanley	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	28 November 1935
Civil Lord of the Admiralty	Kenneth Lindsay	style="background: Template:National Labour Organisation/meta/color" \|	National Labour	18 June 1935
Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries	Walter Elliot	style="background: Template:Unionist Party (Scotland)/meta/color" \|	Unionist	7 June 1935
Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries	William Morrison	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	29 October 1936
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries	The Earl De La Warr	style="background: Template:National Labour Organisation/meta/color" \|	National Labour	18 June 1935
	Herwald Ramsbotham	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	28 November 1935
	The Earl of Feversham	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	30 July 1936	also Deputy Minister of Fisheries
Secretary of State for Air	The Viscount Swinton	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	7 June 1935
Under-Secretary of State for Air	Sir Philip Sassoon, Bt	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	18 June 1935
Secretary of State for the Colonies	Malcolm MacDonald	style="background: Template:National Labour Organisation/meta/color" \|	National Labour	7 June 1935
	James Henry Thomas	style="background: Template:National Labour Organisation/meta/color" \|	National Labour	22 November 1935
	Hon. William Ormsby-Gore	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	28 May 1936
Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies	The Earl of Plymouth	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	18 June 1935
Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies	The Earl De La Warr	style="background: Template:National Labour Organisation/meta/color" \|	National Labour	30 July 1936
Minister for Coordination of Defence	Sir Thomas Inskip	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	13 March 1936
Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs	James Henry Thomas	style="background: Template:National Labour Organisation/meta/color" \|	National Labour	7 June 1935
Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs	Malcolm MacDonald	style="background: Template:National Labour Organisation/meta/color" \|	National Labour	22 November 1935
Under-Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs	Lord Stanley	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	18 June 1935
	Douglas Hacking	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	28 November 1935
	Marquess of Hartington	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	4 March 1936	Duke of Devonshire
President of the Board of Education	Oliver Stanley	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	7 June 1935
Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education	Herwald Ramsbotham	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	18 June 1935
	Earl De La Warr	style="background: Template:National Labour Organisation/meta/color" \|	National Labour	28 November 1935
	Geoffrey Shakespeare	style="background: Template:National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)/meta/color" \|	Liberal National	30 July 1936
Minister of Health	Sir Kingsley Wood	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	7 June 1935
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health	Geoffrey Shakespeare	style="background: Template:National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)/meta/color" \|	Liberal National	18 June 1935
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health	Robert Hudson	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	30 July 1936
Secretary of State for India	The Marquess of Zetland	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	7 June 1935	For India and Burma from 1937
Under-Secretary of State for India	R. A. Butler	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	18 June 1935
Minister of Labour	Ernest Brown	style="background: Template:National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)/meta/color" \|	Liberal National	7 June 1935
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Labour	Anthony Muirhead	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	18 June 1935
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster	Sir J. C. C. Davidson	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	18 June 1935
Paymaster General	The Lord Rochester	style="background: Template:National Labour Organisation/meta/color" \|	National Labour	18 June 1935
Paymaster General	The Lord Hutchison of Montrose	style="background: Template:National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)/meta/color" \|	Liberal National	6 December 1935
Minister for Pensions	Robert Hudson	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	18 June 1935
Minister for Pensions	Herwald Ramsbotham	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	30 July 1936
Minister without Portfolio	Anthony Eden	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	7 June 1935 – 22 December 1935	"Minister for League of Nations Affairs"
Minister without Portfolio	Lord Eustace Percy	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	7 June 1935 – 31 March 1936
Postmaster-General	George Tryon	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	7 June 1935
Assistant Postmaster-General	Sir Ernest Bennett	style="background: Template:National Labour Organisation/meta/color" \|	National Labour	18 June 1935
Assistant Postmaster-General	Sir Walter Womersley	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	6 December 1935
Secretary of State for Scotland	Sir Godfrey Collins	style="background: Template:National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)/meta/color" \|	Liberal National	7 June 1935
Secretary of State for Scotland	Walter Elliot	style="background: Template:Unionist Party (Scotland)/meta/color" \|	Unionist	29 October 1936
Under-Secretary of State for Scotland	Noel Skelton	style="background: Template:Unionist Party (Scotland)/meta/color" \|	Unionist	18 June 1935
	John Colville	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	28 November 1935
	Henry Wedderburn	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	29 October 1936
President of the Board of Trade	Walter Runciman	style="background: Template:National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)/meta/color" \|	Liberal National	7 June 1935
Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade	Leslie Burgin	style="background: Template:National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)/meta/color" \|	Liberal National	18 June 1935
Secretary for Overseas Trade	John Colville	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	18 June 1935
Secretary for Overseas Trade	Euan Wallace	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	28 November 1935
Secretary for Mines	Harry Crookshank	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	18 June 1935
Minister of Transport	Leslie Hore-Belisha	style="background: Template:National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)/meta/color" \|	Liberal National	18 June 1935	In Cabinet from 29 October 1936
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport	Austin Hudson	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	18 June 1935
Secretary of State for War	The Viscount Halifax	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	7 June 1935
Secretary of State for War	Duff Cooper	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	22 November 1935
Under-Secretary of State for War	The Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	18 June 1935
Financial Secretary to the War Office	Douglas Hacking	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	18 June 1935
Financial Secretary to the War Office	Sir Victor Warrender	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	28 November 1935
First Commissioner of Works	William Ormsby-Gore	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	7 June 1935
First Commissioner of Works	The Earl Stanhope	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	16 June 1936
Attorney General	Sir Thomas Inskip	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	18 June 1935
Attorney General	Sir Donald Somervell	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	18 March 1936
Solicitor General	Sir Donald Somervell	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	18 June 1935
Solicitor General	Sir Terence O'Connor	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	19 March 1936
Lord Advocate	Douglas Jamieson	style="background: Template:Unionist Party (Scotland)/meta/color" \|	Unionist	18 June 1935
Lord Advocate	Thomas Cooper	style="background: Template:Unionist Party (Scotland)/meta/color" \|	Unionist	25 October 1935
Solicitor General for Scotland	Thomas Cooper	style="background: Template:Unionist Party (Scotland)/meta/color" \|	Unionist	18 June 1935
	Albert Russell	style="background: Template:Unionist Party (Scotland)/meta/color" \|	Unionist	29 November 1935
	James Reid	style="background: Template:Unionist Party (Scotland)/meta/color" \|	Unionist	25 June 1936
Treasurer of the Household	Sir Frederick Penny	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	18 June 1935
Comptroller of the Household	Sir George Bowyer	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	21 June 1935
Comptroller of the Household	Sir Lambert Ward	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	6 December 1935
Vice-Chamberlain of the Household	Sir Lambert Ward	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	18 June 1935
Vice-Chamberlain of the Household	George Davies	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	6 December 1935
Captain of the Gentlemen-at-Arms	The Earl of Lucan	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	18 June 1935
Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard	The Lord Templemore	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	18 June 1935
Lords in Waiting	The Viscount Gage	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	18 June 1935 – May 1937
	The Earl of Munster	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	18 June 1935 – May 1937
	The Earl of Feversham	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	18 June 1935 – 30 July 1936
	The Marquess of Dufferin and Ava	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	29 October 1936 – 28 May 1937
	The Earl Erne	style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative	29 October 1936 – May 1937

References

Butler, David, and G. Butler, Twentieth Century British Political Facts 1900–2000
Hyde, H. Montgomery. Baldwin: The Unexpected Prime Minister (1973)
Jenkins, Roy. Baldwin (1987) excerpt and text search
Mowat, Charles Loch. Britain Between the Wars, 1918–1940 (1955). online pp 413–79
Raymond, John, ed. The Baldwin Age (1960), essays by scholars 252 pages; online
Smart, Nick. The National Government. 1931–40 (Macmillan 1999) ISBN 0-333-69131-8
Taylor, A.J.P. English History 1914–1945 (1965) pp 321–88
Thorpe, Andrew. Britain in the 1930s. The Deceptive Decade, (Oxford: Blackwell, 1992). ISBN 0-631-17411-7

Preceded by Second National Government	Government of the United Kingdom 1935–1937	Succeeded by Fourth National Government

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